Home renovations for seniors

Living with your older parents or grandparents can be a more responsible task than taking care of a baby. They do not just need your attention for all their health related work but also your house need to be a seniors friendly home to avoid unwanted accidents. The older people in the house are fragile and if you do not have a elderly friendly home, then they may need more of your help than normal. Here I am listing out some of the minor renovations and care, which you can do to make a seniors friendly home in your apartment or villas in Chennai.

1. Lights:

# Use an adequate amount of light to prevent the accidents: The elderly people are more prone to lose their eye sight, so, more lights will make them to see better and hence, to prevent any mishaps.

# Avoid direct bright light: The direct lights may irritate the eye of the aged person. So, better use LED lights or any cover the lights with a plastic to diffuse the light.

# Place a lower switch in their room: If the senior person in your house is using wheel chair then, make a lower switch for easy access.

# Install light inside the cabinet

# Keep a bedside lamp for the night for immediate use by them when needed.

2. Grab bar Handles for seniors:

# Install Handles all around the house for support

# Install grab bars in bathroom walkthrough to prevent slipping

# Install handles on both the side of the toilet seat for easy sitting and standing

3. Install western commode:

If you an Indian style toilet, change it to western style commode. As the elderly people may feel difficult to sit down on the ground.

4. Shower seat:

If the seniors in your house are facing difficulty to stand for long while taking a bath, you can install a shower seat for them to avoid straining their leg.

5. Remove obstacles:

Remove all the obstacle, projection or bump or hump protrusions from the path for a free movement. As, any kind of wound would be dangerous for the se.

6. Floor level:

There should not be any variation on floor levelling; it should be plain and uneven to avoid tripping and falling.

7. Non slip floor:

The floor should not be slippery, change the slippery marble floor to Vinyl, linoleum, Bamboo or cork slip resistant flooring.

But if you do not have budget to change the flooring, then you can put some non slip mat or carpet on the slippery floors especially in the bathroom to avoid accidents.

8. Use lever handles:

The elderly people might feel difficult to turn the knob, so it is better to install a lever handle. It is easy to use without giving much effort to open.

These are some of the ideas which you can use to add more care for your elderly people and to turn it into a seniors friendly home. You can use all of these suggestions whether you have a big villa or small flats in Chennai. It will not take much of your time, effort or money; some are just to add a little more care like reducing noise level in the house. Do give your attention to the senior people of your house to mark an example for your children, so that, they can learn and do the same for you in future.